Band of Brothers Buck Compton dead at 90

M

Mike Irwin

Staff
Won't be long before they're all gone.

"Lynn D. “Buck” Compton, an Army paratrooper whose World War II service was portrayed in the book and HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” and who later as a prosecutor secured a conviction of Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, died Feb. 26 at his home in Burlington, Wash. He was 90."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...t-90/2012/02/27/gIQAd4xmeR_story.html?hpid=z5


I'll need to get the Band of Brothers DVD set out and give it another look-see this weekend. Some of the best firearms handling I've ever seen in any TV production.
 
Watching the interviews at the start of each episode make me realize how lucky we are to have had it produced before they were all gone. RIP
 
The last figure I heard was 1,500 a day. If you see those fellas with the WWII hats, make sure to take the time to listen to their stories. It won't be too much longer before that opportunity will pass.

Sad day.
 
make sure to take the time to listen to their stories.
Click to expand...

I recommend going a step further. Seek them out, and draw their stories out.

My dad told us in general terms where he was and when during WWII, but he never went into great detail. I think part of it is that he never wanted to talk up his role, since forward elements like the 101st had it everything so much harder.

If we asked questions, sometimes we would get interesting answers.
Q: "Dad, were you ever shot at?"
A: "Well, I was never shot. We did have some bullets go through the jeep, though."

His truck convoy, carrying the 101st, was the last into Bastogne, and I always wanted to know more about his experience during the Bulge. I decided that between Spring and Summer sessions in grad school that I would sit down with him and a tape recorder, and get as much as I could about the war, the Depression, and an unsuccessful attempt to sabotage the Aggie's bonfire one year. He passed away that April.

I've thought of more questions since then, but I will never get more stories.

Regards,
Tom
 
It is sad that the nation won't lower the flags to half staff for this man, but they sure did for a drug addict/ alcoholic singer.
 
Thanks for the info, Mike. Band of Brothers was a great series and I too, own the DVD set. I believe the person of Captain/Major Winters passed away just a few weeks ago. Perhaps that info has already been posted. It is sad to see them leave us.

In WWII, my uncle was a tail-gunner on a B-17 and his plane was shot down over Germany. He became a POW at a camp in Germany and spend a number of months there. Every August many of my family attend a church campmeeting and my brother and I always go with my uncle to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. They have a restored B-17 and he always points out the nuances of the plane. We always pepper him with questions (especially when other visitors are close by so they will know they are in the presence of a hero).

I'll refrain for a rant about how it seems each new generation has less and less appreciation for how precious our freedom is and the price that was (and is still being paid) for it. And yeah, I agree - when you see that old guy with the WWII hat, go up and shake his hand and thank him for help making it so you can do so in a free country.
 
dcludwig,

Even in generations past there have been people who didn't appreciate the sacrifices our brave men and women in uniform make. I recall recently a tenured professor at a university who refused to take part in a care package drive because he didn't support the troops or what they were doing. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and can find a link please post it. But to say that its a characteristic of each new generation that they don't appreciate the military is demeaning. At least my generation has great respect and admiration for those in the armed services, and its something I'll pass onto my children.

Please don't generalize.
 
A passing of a Hero Indeed : I was only three yrs old at the beginning of WW 2 but I have memories of three of my uncles returning from the war in 1945. The last one of them died a couple of years ago. They were all three a big influence in my life and I miss them sorely . The Greatest Generation Indeed!
 
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My grandmother told about seeing Civil War vets in parades and her dad telling her that every year there were fewer.

30 years ago WWI vets were not too hard to find...
 
"It is sad that the nation won't lower the flags to half staff for this man, but they sure did for a drug addict/ alcoholic singer."

OK, the "nation" did NOT lower the flags to half staff for Whitney Houston.

The state of New Jersey, by order of the governor, lowered STATE flags to half staff.
 
My uncle was a member of the Band of Brothers. He didn't like talking about it, but he was there from the beginning to the end. He's mentioned in the Ambrose book, but he's not mentioned in the series. My uncle wouldn't talk about it when I was young, but he opened up later.

When I worked at a local newspaper, I was able to do an full-cover spread on him and the service he gave to our country. I've watched series so much, that my wife has declared I can only watch it when she's out of the house. :D
 
I live down the street one of the Easy Company vets. I thought that was something until my neighbor started telling me his war experiences. Made me also think of the things my Grandpa was never interested in talking about that he took to his grave.


Band of Brothers did a lot towards giving notoriety to a select group of WWII vets which is great. But chances are you know someone closer who went through something just as difficult. Think of or say something to them when you have a chance.
 
re:

The last figure I heard was 1,500 a day. If you see those fellas with the WWII hats, make sure to take the time to listen to their stories. It won't be too much longer before that opportunity will pass.
Click to expand...

Along with my father, a veteran of the Ardennes campaign with the 275th Combat Engineers...now deceased...all my uncles were WW2 veterans. My father's first cousins...brothers...were involved in two of the most memorable.
One survived the Bataan Death March, and the other was a member of Merrill's Marauders and is listed on the website. (Harlass T. Boggs) Both men were pretty much emotionally crippled by their experiences, and never spoke of them in a lot of detail. I don't believe that Harlass drew a sober breath from the time he came home until he died in 1966...and Francis trembled constantly as though he had Parkinson's.

I'm fortunate enough to have a neighbor who was a Navy Frogman who island-hopped his way through the Pacific. Like the others, he relates the funny stories and draws the line where the horror begins. I make an effort to spend a little time with him 2-3 times a week.
 
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